The name “Isaiah” means “God is salvation”. Isaiah was a court prophet during the late Judea Kingdom. He announced the message of God’s judgment and salvation to the people of his contemporary time.
Isaiah prophesied to a nation that had turned a deaf ear to the Lord in 739-681 BC. The nation of Judah turned their backs on God and indulged themselves in idolatry. Instead of loving their neighbours, the nation was filled with injustice. Under such circumstances, God spoke through Isaiah of His judgment and mercy, calling His people to return.
The Book of Isaiah can be divided into two parts: Chapter 1-39 and Chapter 40-66.
In the first part (Ch. 1-39), Isaiah declared the destiny of Jerusalem. The city would be torn down by the enemy because of Israelites’ betrayal against God and injustice to their neighbors. If Israelites did not repent, they would ultimately be defeated and lived a life of captivity.
But that was not the end intended by God. In Chapter 7-12, Isaiah prophesied that, through all the judgments, God would cleanse His people and would ultimately raise His own holy seed out of all the brokenness. The Lord would still fulfill His promise to David. It was at this point, the name “Emmanuel” appeared, which meant God be with His People always.
With such hope in sight, Isaiah continued to call the Israelites to repent and turn back to God. Together, they could look upon the New Jerusalem, which was filled with God’s justice, peace, healing and love. Then we entered into the second part of the Book of Isaiah (Ch. 40-66). The key message was a message of hope and comfort.
Some people questioned if Isaiah was the author of this section, as the prophet had died at least 150 years before Chapter 40-66 took place. A more convincing and well-accepted theory was that Isaiah did write these messages. He was believed to hand these messages to his disciple to keep as a proof in the future. A few generations later, his disciples opened these messages. Realizing the accuracy of the messages, they began to apply the teachings to their contemporary people. Therefore, in the second part of the book, we are actually hearing both the voice of Isaiah and his disciples.
In this section, God has fulfilled His earlier promises and continued to call the Israelites to become His servants. Unfortunately, the invitation was met with doubt and rejection. Therefore, in Chapter 41-47, the Lord responded to Israelite’s accusation and reinstated Himself as the Lord of history.
Facing the Israelites’ rejection, God began to do a new thing. In Chapter 49, the prophet declared that the Lord would raise His servant to become the light of the nations and to bring God’s Kingdom into the world. He was the holy seed, who became our scapegoat to pay the price of our sins. Yet, this servant would come back to life, so that our relationship with God could be restored.
Today, we know who is the Servant of God. The holy seed is Jesus, who came to die for us on the cross. He defeated death so that everyone of us has the opportunity to restore our relationship with God in eternity - the new heaven and new earth.
Day | Meditational Reading Plan | |
1 | Isaiah 1:1-9 | Psalm 1:1-6 |
2 | Isaiah 1:10-20 | Psalm 2:1-12 |
3 | Isaiah 1:21-31 | Psalm 3:1-8 |
4 | Isaiah 2:1-11 | Psalm 4:1-8 |
5 | Isaiah 2:12-22 | Psalm 5:1-12 |
6 | Isaiah 3:1-12 | Psalm 6:1-10 |
7 | Isaiah 3:13-26 | Psalm 7:1-9 |
8 | Isaiah 4:1-6 | Psalm 7:10-17 |
9 | Isaiah 5:1-14 | Psalm 8:1-9 |
10 | Isaiah 5:15-25 | Psalm 9:1-10 |
11 | Isaiah 5:26-30 | Psalm 9:11-20 |
12 | Isaiah 6:1-7 | Psalm 10:1-18 |
13 | Isaiah 6:8-13 | Psalm 11:1-7 |
14 | Isaiah 7:1-9 | Psalm 12:1-8 |
15 | Isaiah 7:10-16 | Psalm 13:1-6 |
16 | Isaiah 7:17-25 | Psalm 14:1-7 |
17 | Isaiah 8:1-10 | Psalm 15:1-5 |
18 | Isaiah 8:11-15 | Psalm 16:1-11 |
19 | Isaiah 8:16-22 | Psalm 17:1-15 |
20 | Isaiah 9:1-7 | Psalm 18:1-19 |
21 | Isaiah 9:8-21 | Psalm 18:20-29 |
22 | Isaiah 10:1-11 | Psalm 18:30-40 |
23 | Isaiah 10:12-19 | Psalm 18:41-50 |
24 | Isaiah 10:20-34 | Psalm 19:1-14 |
25 | Isaiah 11:1-9 | Psalm 20:1-9 |
26 | Isaiah 11:10-16 | Psalm 21:1-13 |
27 | Isaiah 12:1-6 | Psalm 22:1-21 |
28 | Isaiah 13:1-10 | Psalm 22:22-31 |
29 | Isaiah 13:11-22 | Psalm 23:1-6 |
30 | Isaiah 14:1-21 | Psalm 24:1-10 |
31 | Isaiah 14:22-27 | Psalm 25:1-10 |
32 | Isaiah 14:28-32 | Psalm 25:11-22 |
33 | Isaiah 22:1-14 | Psalm 26:1-12 |
34 | Isaiah 24:1-13 | Psalm 27:1-14 |
35 | Isaiah 24:14-23 | Psalm 28:1-9 |
36 | Isaiah 25:1-12 | Psalm 29:1-11 |
37 | Isaiah 26:1-12 | Psalm 30:1-12 |
38 | Isaiah 26:13-21 | Psalm 31:1-24 |
39 | Isaiah 27:1-13 | Psalm 32:1-11 |
40 | Isaiah 28:1-13 | Psalm 33:1-11 |
41 | Isaiah 28:14-22 | Psalm 33:12-22 |
42 | Isaiah 28:23-29 | Psalm 34:1-10 |
43 | Isaiah 29:1-16 | Psalm 34:11-22 |
44 | Isaiah 29:17-24 | Psalm 35:1-28 |
45 | Isaiah 30:8-17 | Psalm 36:1-12 |
46 | Isaiah 30:18-26 | Psalm 37:1-19 |
47 | Isaiah 32:1-8 | Psalm 37:20-40 |
48 | Isaiah 32:9-20 | Psalm 38:1-22 |
49 | Isaiah 33:1-9 | Psalm 39:1-13 |
50 | Isaiah 33:10-16 | Psalm 40:1-17 |
51 | Isaiah 33:17-24 | Psalm 41:1-13 |
52 | Isaiah 34:1-10 | Psalm 42:1-11 |
53 | Isaiah 34:11-17 | Psalm 43:1-5 |
54 | Isaiah 35:1-10 | Psalm 44:1-26 |
55 | Isaiah 36:1-12 | Psalm 45:1-12 |
56 | Isaiah 36:13-22 | Psalm 45:13-17 |
57 | Isaiah 37:1-7 | Psalm 46:1-11 |
58 | Isaiah 37:8-20 | Psalm 47:1-9 |
59 | Isaiah 37:21-38 | Psalm 48:1-14 |
60 | Isaiah 38:1-8 | Psalm 49:1-14 |
61 | Isaiah 38:9-22 | Psalm 49:15-20 |
62 | Isaiah 39:1-8 | Psalm 50:1-14 |
63 | Isaiah 40:1-11 | Psalm 50:15-23 |
64 | Isaiah 40:12-26 | Psalm 51:1-9 |
65 | Isaiah 40:27-31 | Psalm 51:10-19 |
66 | Isaiah 41:1-7 | Psalm 52:1-9 |
67 | Isaiah 41:8-20 | Psalm 53:1-6 |
68 | Isaiah 41:21-29 | Psalm 54:1-7 |
69 | Isaiah 42:1-9 | Psalm 55:1-11 |
70 | Isaiah 42:10-17 | Psalm 55:12-23 |
71 | Isaiah 42:18-25 | Psalm 56:1-7 |
72 | Isaiah 43:1-13 | Psalm 56:8-13 |
73 | Isaiah 43:14-24 | Psalm 57:1-11 |
74 | Isaiah 43:25-28 | Psalm 58:1-11 |
75 | Isaiah 44:1-8 | Psalm 59:1-9 |
76 | Isaiah 44:9-20 | Psalm 59:10-17 |
77 | Isaiah 44:21-28 | Psalm 60:1-12 |
78 | Isaiah 45:1-13 | Psalm 61:1-8 |
79 | Isaiah 45:14-25 | Psalm 62:1-12 |
80 | Isaiah 46:1-7 | Psalm 63:1-11 |
81 | Isaiah 46:8-13 | Psalm 64:1-10 |
82 | Isaiah 47:1-7 | Psalm 65:1-7 |
83 | Isaiah 47:8-15 | Psalm 65:8-13 |
84 | Isaiah 48:1-11 | Psalm 66:1-10 |
85 | Isaiah 48:12-22 | Psalm 66:11-20 |
86 | Isaiah 49:1-13 | Psalm 67:1-7 |
87 | Isaiah 49:14-26 | Psalm 68:1-23 |
88 | Isaiah 50:1-11 | Psalm 68:24-35 |
89 | Isaiah 51:1-11 | Psalm 69:1-36 |
90 | Isaiah 51:12-23 | Psalm 70:1-5 |
91 | Isaiah 52:1-12 | Psalm 71:1-12 |
92 | Isaiah 52:13-53:3 | Psalm 71:13-24 |
93 | Isaiah 53:4-12 | Psalm 72:1-10 |
94 | Isaiah 54:1-10 | Psalm 72:11-20 |
95 | Isaiah 54:11-17 | Psalm 73:1-14 |
96 | Isaiah 55:1-13 | Psalm 73:15-28 |
97 | Isaiah 56:1-8 | Psalm 74:1-11 |
98 | Isaiah 56:9-12 | Psalm 74:12-23 |
99 | Isaiah 57:1-13 | Psalm 75:1-10 |
100 | Isaiah 57:14-21 | Psalm 76:1-12 |
101 | Isaiah 58:1-12 | Psalm 77:1-9 |
102 | Isaiah 58:13-14 | Psalm 77:10-20 |
103 | Isaiah 59:1-8 | Psalm 78:1-16 |
104 | Isaiah 59:9-15 | Psalm 78:17-29 |
105 | Isaiah 59:16-21 | Psalm 78:30-39 |
106 | Isaiah 60:1-7 | Psalm 78:40-52 |
107 | Isaiah 60:8-15 | Psalm 78:53-72 |
108 | Isaiah 60:16-22 | Psalm 79:1-13 |
109 | Isaiah 61:1-11 | Psalm 80:1-7 |
110 | Isaiah 62:1-12 | Psalm 80:8-19 |
111 | Isaiah 63:1-6 | Psalm 81:1-16 |
112 | Isaiah 63:7-14 | Psalm 82:1-8 |
113 | Isaiah 63:15-19 | Psalm 83:1-10 |
114 | Isaiah 64:1-3 | Psalm 83:11-18 |
115 | Isaiah 64:4-12 | Psalm 84:1-12 |
116 | Isaiah 65:1-7 | Psalm 85:1-13 |
117 | Isaiah 65:8-16 | Psalm 86:1-10 |
118 | Isaiah 65:17-25 | Psalm 86:11-17 |
119 | Isaiah 66:1-13 | Psalm 87:1-7 |
120 | Isaiah 66:14-17 | Psalm 88:1-18 |
121 | Isaiah 66:18-24 | Psalm 89:1-10 |
Bible Project: Isaiah 1-39
Bible Project: Isaiah 40-66